Multielemental fast analysis of vegetation samples by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: Possibilities and drawbacks

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) is universally recognized as a non-destructive method for rapid and sequential, or simultaneous analysis of elemental composition of a material. The use of this technique for the direct determination of chemical elements in plant matrices has increased over the last few years.In the present study, a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) method for the quantitative analysis of some major elements (Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca), trace elements (Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, As) and non-essential elements (Sr, Pb) in vegetation specimens has been developed. The method uses a quick and easy sample preparation procedure since only drying, pulverizing and pressing of the samples are necessary. The calibration procedure was established by employing four plant reference materials and several synthetic cellulose calibrators spiked with appropriate amounts of analytes. Matrix effects were corrected employing the method of the influence coefficients on the basis of the computerized routine program linked to the equipment.Trueness of the experimental procedure was checked by using the standard reference material GBW07602 “Bush branches and leaves”. In general, good agreement was achieved between certified values and the measured ones with recoveries ranging from 94% to 107%. Moreover, quality parameters, including repeatability and reproducibility of the developed method, were also evaluated.On the whole, from results obtained, WDXRF method proposed prove to be good and effective tool for environmental investigation and quality control processes in vegetation specimens.